Districts begin school year with new faces and courses, including robotics at ESM

David Lassman, The Post-StandardFayetteville-Manlius Athletic Director Scott Sugar at the school's stadium where field hockey practice was taking place.

By Elizabeth Doran
Staff writer

When the school bells ring to start classes for the 2012-13 school year in Onondaga County’s eastern suburbs, students and parents may notice some changes — extra courses and new programs, new faces, some old faces in new jobs and improvements to the facilities.

Here, by school district, are some examples of what to expect:

Fayetteville-Manlius

Scott Sugar is F-M’s new director of physical education and athletics for the district, replacing Rich Roy. He was director of physical education and athletics for the Oswego City School District. Sugar also is Section III boys’ basketball chairperson and chair of the New York State Athletic Administrators Association Awards.

Eileen Lux is the new principal at Fayetteville Elementary. She was assistant principal at F-M’s Eagle Hill Middle School, a position she held since 2008. Prior to that, she taught third and fourth grade for 15 years, from 1993 to 2008, at Jamesville Elementary School.

Stephen Musso has been named assistant principal at F-M High School, and Kevin Linck will be a new assistant principal at Eagle Hill Middle School.

East Syracuse Minoa

Grenardo “Greg” L. Avellino is the new principal at ESM Central High School. He was assistant principal for the past two years at Fayetteville-Manlius High School.

At the high school, students can now take ESM’s first three-credit Project Lead the Way course: Introduction to Engineering Design. The high school also will offer robotics for grades 10 to 12.

There will be a continued focus on teaching through STEAM teams, which integrate Science, Technology Engineering, Arts and Math.

An eighth-grade studio art accelerated course will allow students to receive high school credit for the course starting this fall.

Jamesville-DeWitt

There is a new assistant principal at the high school. David Nylen, who taught high school math, will now take on the administrative role.

The district’s roofing project will be complete as school opens.

LaFayette

At Grimshaw Elementary School, a new Junior Great Books enrichment program will be introduced.

The Big Picture School will kick off its fifth year with 54 students, up from 53 this past school year.

Tully

William Locke has been named as the new interim elementary principal as the district searches for a permanent replacement for Brent Suddaby. Suddaby left to take a position in the West Genesee district. Locke served as a K-12 principal in the Arkport district for 12 years and spent 10 years as superintendent there as well. He retired in 2010.

In order to save money, the district has converted its newsletter, Knight Insight, to an online publication. The new format includes full color, live links to email addresses, web links and more.

The district is looking to share a French class with LaFayette through distance-learning technology. Some students will take an advanced placement economics course from Fabius-Pompey via the same technology.

The district is expanding its partnerships with higher education through two multi-year grants. One is with State University College at Oneonta to support enrichment programs in Tully Elementary School, the other with Cornell University, using a two-year National Science Foundation Grant to create a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Center in the Tully Junior-Senior High School. The two programs will be developed throughout the school year.